Last year I made [this creepy clown]( https://forum.lettucecraft.com/t/creepy-clown-costume-for-my-skellie-frenemy/7462?u=themistresstthis creepy clown) and this year I set him up in part of of forested yard. Then I decided to add another dead circus performer: a STRONGMAN!
This one is more funny than creepy and I had a lot of fun figuring him out. It was also a satisfying way to use this skellie whose arm broke off a couple years ago. His costume entirely stash-made! The singlet is a reconfiguration of a circus themed wild-woman sideshow costume I used for something probably 12 or 13 years (and a few sized) ago. I just cut the skirt part of the mini-dress into panties-shaped pieces front and back, sewed the crotch together and added elastic to the leg openings to give him an old-timey strongman singlet look.
I used an old vinyl table cover that I’d saved to make the belt and gauntlets, and a vintage brass ring from the last macrame trend for the belt buckle. His mustache is felt scraps over a wire tie from some kind of produce.
The barbell… well, I’m not entirely satisfied. It needed to be weather-resistant, if not weather proof. I had pinned a tutorial for water-resistant paper mache years ago and since I could not find large-enough bouncy balls at a decent price, I decided to paper mache over balloons. Instead of paper in a paste mixture, it’s paper saturated with a type of mortar used for setting tiles (not grout). They’re then attached to a length of PVC pipe (stash) and painted with exterior house paint. As I was waiting for the time to dedicate to the paper mache-ing of the balloons I got the idea that having two different numbers on the barbell would be fun and then one of the balloons shrunk so it must have been meant to be! I had intended to put the heavier one on the side with the broken arm, but painted them incorrectly and didn’t feel like fixing it.
A not-quite-nighttime view with the spotlight not yet on (I darkened the pic a bit). Last night started a week of grey and rain, so I hope I can get a good night shot before it’s time to take this down!
With the clown.
They are downhill from the house and about 14 yards/meters uphill from the road, facing it. So, the rigging to make the skellies stand up and stay posed can be a bit less subtle. Almost no one drives by, just a couple of neighbors and since we live on a loop, some of them will not even drive our direction most of the time. Regardless, I hope to add to this theme over the next few years and build up a bit of a Deadest Show on Earth scene over the next few years and have been collecting pins to inspire me. Perhaps when we get a bit more of an extravaganza going I will invite other people in the 'hood to drive by at night and maybe they will encourage their guests to also. And if it creeps out some of our less favored neighbors… that’s just a cherry on top!
ADDENDUM: Nighttime shots! I managed to break my solar spotlight when installing it, but fixed it yesterday in time to charge. WOO! Er, BOO!
I’ve named him Frederig and he worked up a sweat yesterday afternoon.
)…the singlet is definitely what makes the vintage circus side show vibe come alive…
